PROFILES BY Martin Blaney, Elisabet Cabeza, Melanie Goodfellow, Jeremy Kay, Geoffrey Macnab, Wendy Mitchell, Gabriele Niola, Liz Shackleton, Fiona Williams, Andreas Wiseman
AGENTS
Screen International meets the next generation of agents who are repping talent across multiple platforms
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ince 2012, Screen International has been selecting its annual Future Leaders list and presenting it around Cannes Film Festival. It’s one of the most popular features we publish, shining a spotlight on the rising stars of the international film business, and each new list is always eagerly anticipated. Up until now, our Future Leaders have always been the up-and-coming names rising through the ranks in sales, acquisitions, distribution and producing. This year we decided to shake things up a bit and, for the first time, we are proud to present our first Future Leaders — Agents. Scouring the globe, we have identified 43 young agents who represent actors, writers, directors, heads of department and/or work in the financing/packaging side of the business. What unites our selection is that they all have an eye on the international opportunities for their clients, not just their local markets.
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While agents play an established role in the US and UK industries in particular, other countries are quickly catching on as the need and desire to cast internationally becomes ever more important — and as international co-productions grow in number. There is a voracious appetite for new talent out there, and you only need to look at a global smash such as Game Of Thrones to understand that today’s talented unknowns are tomorrow’s bankable stars. Producers and sales companies working in a rapidly evolving industry might need to find a hot actor or an exciting director from the Balkans, China or Brazil in a way they didn’t five years ago. As ever with Future Leaders, our Class of 2016 are the agents we believe will be (or already are) representing some of the most exciting and dynamic global-facing talent for years to come. Get to know them now. Matt Mueller, editor
May 2016 Screen International 41